A Tale of Wings
by Scaryna
Summary: An alternate main character to the original series. Scaryna is different, and in more ways than one. How will Hogwarts help her truely fit in and find the truth about her parents sudden deaths? Pairings in the far future DMOC SSOC hinted RWHG
1. The bird and the snake

**A Tale of Wings**

_Why in God's name would they put all the shops for school supplies down one street?! _The girl's small form was slammed into the wall of the building she had just exited. Flourish and Blotts, it was called. A book store. Lovely, crowded place.

Her train of thought rolled off the tracks and crashed as her arm was nearly wrenched from it's socket. Her step-father grinned sadistically as a gasp of pain was elicited from her lips. _Ruddy bastard... That's what I get for getting tossed into a wall and slowing him down..._ She glared, golden eyes and moodstones flashing through the matted tangles of almost-black hair. He had refused to take her to get her school supplies unless it had been dyed. Luckily, it wasn't permanent.

She begrudgingly followed behind her step-father. Dark thoughts of anger towards him chashing each other around her skull.

They were in Diagon Ally. Wait... Make that **everyone** was in Diagon Ally. With just two weeks left till September 1st and the beginning of the school year, parents and students gathered here to buy everything their child needed for the next year at Hogwarts.

Scaryna Taleshade was just one of the many first years this coming semester, and she was observing every student she could, especially the ones that seemed around her age. She got ample time to do so every time her step-father decided that he should not be spending so many galleons on her and argued it up with a sales clerk.

When he had started it up with the clerk in the pet store, Scaryna chose not to just sit there and listen.

_I want something **different**... Owls are sure to be just so... so... common! _She thought this as she explored further back into the shop. A snake's hissing voice filled her ears with complaints before she promptly told him off. Being able to talk to snakes was a very rare thing, indeed, and she didn't need the green python unnerving her all through the store. It was good that he was a polite green python, and knew when to shut his trap. He wasn't that expensive, and she could easily buy him just to flay him.

As she peeped into the darker areas of the store, a man's talking peaked her curiousity. She spied between two glass tanks with lizard-ish creatures in them. One looked like an iguana, while the other... _It doesn't look like it's got a head at all! Ewww._Scaryna pulled a face at the creature before turning back to her peep-hole. The man, now shown to be tall with long-ish blond hair and the sternest expression of cold-hearted anger Ryna had ever seen, was arguing with another clerk over the price of a black owl. The two progeny beside him could only be described as mini-whoever-he-wasses. Except the girl, who was younger, around Scaryna's age, had cool green eyes instead of blue.

Scaryna shrugged to herself and went off to explore a bit more. The snake had started his complaining again. This time it was something about another creature giving him a funny look

_"Hhhlep! 'Sssisssss **bird** isss going to eat messs! Look... It'ssss not my fault he doesssn't feed you good mousssesss. Pleassse, don't eat me!"_ The snake hissed.

Scaryna, rolling her amber orbs, decided that, while she did want a bird, a snake was better than nothing. When she reached the snakes' cage, she was confronted by a very large, angry, hungry bird of prey.

At over three feet tall, with black feathers in a band around its neck and chest and down its back, and also having the feathers along the back of its head standing out... well, it looked awfully menacing. It was hissing angrily at the snake and standing awkwardly on a display near his tank.

Noticing an ineffective tether tied around the birds ankle, Scaryna's eyes quickly trailed along the rope to a perch with a sign affixed to it with the words "HARPY EAGLE - **warning, this bird is very violent, stay back**" spralled across it in black ink. Her eyes, travelling back to the snake and the bird, caught the eagle about to rip into the meshing on top of the tank with its' long, black beak.

A sharp command, issued in Scaryna's native tongue, stopped the bird in it's tracks. It stared at her, curiously, before lifting itself up and, with only two stroke with it's massive wings, traveled to it's perch and settled itself.

After a long daunting conversation - speaking in parseltongue and bird-speech (also called Ryphon speech) seperately is tasking enough, but back and forth? - Scaryna and the two creatures came to an agreement. She would buy them both, name them their already selected names of Cravyn and Dart, and take them home.

_And my step-father can't say anything about it at all. They both cost less than a regular owl, even together._ Scaryna snickered to herself, then led the way to the counter.

Dart, only being a little over 2 feet long, had wrapped himself around Scaryna's arm for the trip, and Cravyn was hop-walking behind them. Only being a foot and a half shorter than Scaryna herself, the bird didn't think the girl could handle her weight, even on a well balanced place like her shoulder.

At the counter, Scaryna's step-father was still arguing over the price of the owl, like Scaryna knew he would be. At her interception, the clerk looked relieved, but her step-father looked livid. That was, he did... Until she mentioned the better price of the harpy and the snake. She also told him that the bird and the snake needed to be bought together because they had developed an affinity for each other after being thoroughly introduced. The clerk just looked at her like she was insane, but didn't comment. He had already wasted a half-hour arguing with the guy, if he didn't get at least one sale out of it, he'd probably get fired.

At her insistance, Scaryna's step-father finally agreed and purchased both creatures and a travel set for both animals. They then left the store.

After setting the bird to "Go find some real food. And no one else's pet either." Scaryna decided that her day hadn't been all that bad. _In spite of the crowds, the noise, my step-father, _here she sneered at his back, _and my horrible forced appearance, maybe life in the wizarding world isn't so bad. At least when I get to Hogwarts, I'll have two friends already._


	2. Platform 9¾

Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter or any of his friends. If you recognize it, I, most assuredly, don't own it.I probably don't even own the species of my main character, flighty creature. But I do own the creation Scaryna Taleshade-Cresent, her step-father and parents,and her bird Cravyn. I'm not sure about the snake, hissing is hard to understand. Future characters will be regarded when the appear.

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The last two weeks of summer passed in a chaotic blur for Scaryna. Luckily, her step-father, A.K.A., the Usurper, wanted her to make a good impression of him, so he kept his hands off her.

The morning started with her being woken by her house elves, Dela, Kerry and Mika. They were subdued, as usual. Her step-father had nearly beaten all the spunk out of them. They brought her breakfast while she showered before disappearing back to the "servants quarters."_ More like slave's chambers. _

After dressing she braided her clean, for once, two-toned hair. Not bothering to include her reverse-coloured bangs in the braid, she tucked those behind her ears. Then she sat down at the small side table for her breakfast and to read The Daily Prophet.

Scaryna purchased her paper using her allowance from her step-father, whom she "fondly" called the Usurper, without his knowledge. She did many things without his knowledge. Including finding the passage way behind a bookcase into the library he had closed off... Being good friends with the house elves... And starting up a letter correspondence with some wizard investigators and private eyes to look into what really happened to her real parents. That one was a doozy.

Today was September 1st. _Yay... School..._ She was actually really excited about finally going to Hogwarts.

She finished up her breakfast and finished her once over of the contents of the Prophet. _Nothing important. Just more stuff about Sirius Black, the escapee from Azkaban. Of course, that's so much more important than how the bugger got out in the first place. Aren't those Dementors actually supposed to do something besides float around and scare the sht out of people?_

Scaryna snorted, finally making her way to finishing getting dressed and making her way downstairs. It was only around 9am. She had to be at King's Cross in London by 11am.

Arriving at the landing on the second floor, Scaryna greeted one of her house ghosts before striding down the hall to her step-father's study. He deigned himself too worthy to actually read anything for "fun" but he decided that he did, indeed, need a study.

"I'm ready to go, sir." Came Scaryna's voice from the doorway. She never entered any of her step-father's rooms. Especially not the ones he invited others to. His "friends" creeped her out. Especially the guys with the holsters poking out from beneath their sport jackets.

Her step-father, whose full name was Dale Taleshade, looked up at her. "Are you now? Well, ring the bell and get one of the servants to get your trunk... And the animals cages and things. We were sent a... a portkey to get to the mainland."

It amused Scaryna. That even after all this time, Dale was still uneasy about "magical crap," as he called it. That was kind of a good thing. He'd never test her on her summer homework... And he'd never know anything about how anyone had actually managed to get into his expensive cigar stash and ruined the whole lot.

After getting Dela to fetch her things, Scaryna and her step-father went into the main floor parlor. Dale was nervous about the magic thing, but he refused to let his step-daughter notice his weakness, which made it all the more apparent to her. He really was a moron sometimes.

Dela had shrunk Scaryna's things to pocket size, and had also lightened them so they wouldn't rip the stitching. Scaryna thanked her discreetly, as to not draw attention to the detail, and tucked the parcel away

Dale read out the instructions that had been sent with the portkey. If more than one person was traveling with one portkey, they had to touch the object at the same time, etc. It was tedious and wasted ten minutes of Scaryna's valuable young life. _The amusing thing is, I've already read up on portkeys. I knew it was probably the easiest way to get a student from out of the backwoods of Scotland and into London, mainland England._

When Dale had finally decided he had worked himself into enough of a panic, he told his step-daughter that the note that was sent with the portkey said that she was to go on her own. He then followed that up with some snide remarks about magic and it's uses in general, before ranting on about the portkey itself. Which had been made from an old latin textbook. Somehow, he found fault in that.

Scaryna waited for a good twenty-or-so minutes before she asked if she was allowed to leave yet. _Stupid thing to say, very stupid thing to ask!_ She berated herself. Her step-father almost back-handed her for her impertinence before remembering that she was going somewhere public, and he needed her to make a good impression of him in the magical world. Even if he hated it's very existence with his very being. It was still full of people with opinions, and opinions matter.

"You spoiled little bh. If you ever say something like that to me again, I will hit you. And I won't care where you're going. And everyone will know how worthless you are."

Staying completely straight-faced, Scaryna walked silently to an end table, where she picked up the portkey. As soon as she touched it, she felt something pull her person from a place behind her navel forward into oblivion. She tried to fight at first, but her hands were firmly planted to the book, and they could not be removed.

Only moments after the sensation started, it stopped. Scaryna found herself holding the book in the middle of an almost empty train station. The gate number directly above her said Platform 9¾. _Well. At least I can say I'm not late._ And she wasn't, it was still only 9:45am.

At precisely 10:00am, a bright red steam engine rolled into the station. Painted across the side was the train's name, The Hogwarts Express. _Of course, the biggest magical school in England would have it's own train, wouldn't it?_

An attendant helped her store her now-full-sized luggage away and helped settle her pets in her chosen compartment. When he had left to help the other early arrivals, Scaryna settled herself down for something she hadn't done in a long while. She cried.

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Please RR... I'm fairly new to the writing fanfiction world, so updates might be a little weird. Thanks for reading. -


	3. On the train with a Malfoy

Disclaimer : If you recognize it, I don't own it. If I did, do you think I'd bother writing about it?

Yes, I'm pretty sure all characters you do recognize will be OOC.

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At around 10:45am, most of the students going to Hogwarts had already arrived and had either boarded or were storing their trunks in the luggage compartments. Many were talking to friends they hadn't seen since the end of the previous school year, or their shopping trip to Diagon Ally. All in all, it was a crowded, noisy place.

Except for Scaryna's cabin. It was quite peaceful in there, to tell the truth. Scaryna and Cravyn were chatting about winged life and their last free flight in the skies. Of course, this was discussed in Ryphon-speeh, known as bird-speech to those unfamiliar with the Ryphon species, as to not let eavesdroppers hear. Cravyn understood English as well, but, like all birds, preferred it when she was spoken to in the universal tongue.

It only took a few minutes, from the time he arrived, for rumors of the strange looking new girl with the giant bird in one of the front cabins to reach the gossip-sensitive ears of Draco Malfoy. He was instantly intrigued. With a quick calculation, he knew that many more of the first years would be under his thumb if her got the most outstanding looking one of the entire lot first.

Draco ordered three of his second-year lackeys to guard the few things he was bringing on board the train. He then set of to the forward cabins to see this odd girl for himself... With Crabbe and Goyle of course. His muscle-bound monkeys decided to torture a scrawny little first year boy into giving them his treat money on the way. Of course, while most bullies would have only wanted that money for the chance to torture someone smaller and weaker than them, Crabbe and Goyle only wanted the money for it's intended purpose. To buy treats.

Upon reaching Scaryna's cabin, Draco noticed a distinctive mark on the door. It was the signature Malfoy "M". This girl was sitting in his cabin! He hummed to himself. This was getting interesting. Glancing through the window in the door, Draco pulled the door open and slide into the cabin.

He was greeted by the most unusual sight. The easiest one to explain was the two and a half foot bright green python curled in the young girls' lap. Then it all got weird. There was a three foot and something inches tall, angry looking bird glaring at him from between a great crown of fluffed up feathers and a sharp, hooked, black beak. Then there was the girl. From her three and a half foot long braid with black seeming to meld seemlessly into pure white, to the bright golden eyes peaking out from under the long strands of reverse-toned bangs, and the three glowing jewels dotting her cheekbones under each eye... Draco couldn't hide the expression of surprise that played over his sleek features.

Scaryna shook herself, breaking eye-contact with the blonde creature that had just sidled into her cabin. Catching herself, she looked back up to the boy and his goons.

"Yes? How may I help you?" She queried with a raised brow. Cravyn hissed something obscene and Scaryna had to stop herself from scolding her with the strangers present.

Draco grinned. "You can help us, my dear girl, by removing yourself from my cabin."

"I would gladly do so, my dear sir, if it wasn't for the fact that there are three things wrong with that proposition." She responded, her smirk not quite reaching her eyes.

"Oh, really? And what might those be?"

"Well, there is the fact that I see no names on any of the components of this cabin, none that I would end up using, anyway. Also, at the risk of sounded childish, my companions and I were here first. And, lastly, I don't think you would be able to carry Cravyn anywhere." Scaryna gave a little mental victory dance. _They'll never get past that._

Draco raised his right eyebrow. The only outward sign of his inward confusion. "And why would we have to carry your bird anywhere?" Was the question he settled on. It would get him answers without making himself out to look like a moron.

"Well, I'm assuming all three of you have been trained to be perfect gentlemen, and if you did indeed need the room of this entire cabin, you would assist me in moving my belongings into another cabin. I would, of course, given the heavier objects to your two friends, they seem very capable, and the lighter things would be carrier by me. Alas, that would leave you with Cravyn, since I need not have Dart technically held on to. And I do not believe Cravyn is in any mood to be agreeable. Therefore, it just wouldn't work." Scaryna cleared her face of any expression and plaster a non-condescending smile on her face.

Draco wanted to throw a fit. This was his cabin. Forcing his movements to be smooth, he marched to the seat, beside the window, across from Scaryna. "Then I guess we'll just have to stay the ride in the same cabin, won't we?" Without waiting for a response, he turned to his goons, who were still standing near the door. "Go get my things, we will be sitting in here." He commanded.

The lackeys immediately filed out and lumbered off to do their leaders bidding, leaving the small first year and dominating third year alone. Scaryna spoke first.

"Scaryna Taleshade-Cresent, not yet Sorted." She stuck her hand out towards him, which he blinked at before reaching out to shake it.

"Draco Malfoy, Slytherin House."

A moment later, Crabbe and Goyle had returned and proceeded to stuff their things into the storage spaces available. They then sat down to enjoy the train ride in relative comfort. They didn't have the luxury of silence, though. At least Scaryna didn't. Both of her animals and the boy's owls felt the need to talk to her or eachother and keep a running commentary of everything on the trip.

Scaryna rubbed her temples, it was going to be a longer day than she thought.

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Please R&R and let me know what you think. I am new at this and I need to know how badly I've screwed things up.


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